Improvement in piano-fortes



UNITED` STATES PATENT OEEicE.

SPENCER T. PARMELEE, OF NEV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIANO-FORTES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,7011, dated June 24, 13H2.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SPENCER T. PARMELEE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city 'and county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Piano-Fortes; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following speciiication, and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top view of the iron stringframe, the sounding-board, the bottomframe, and casing of a piano as provided with my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, and Fig. 3 a transverse, section of the same.

The nature of my invention consists in constructing the iron or string frame with a metallic bracket for connecting the said frame with the bottom frame; also, in supporting such iron frameon the bottom frame and insulating the iron frame from the soundingboard and those parts of the case which extend above the bottom frame; also, in arranging the frame bracket or vsupport so as to pass down through the hammer-opening of the sounding-board; also, in arranging the top plate of the iron or string frame so as to extend in opposite directions beyond the bridge, and

with respect to the wrist-pin plate and the braces, as hereinafter described, and as represented; also, in extending the sounding-board across the entire interior ofthe case-viz.,from side to side and end to end thereof-and making such board with a passage for the hammers and the frame-bracket, as described.

In the drawings, Adenotes the string-frame as made of metal and castin one piece, and with a long standard or bracket, B, extending downward from it at the inner edge of its wrist-pin plate a. This bracket is provided with a foot or iiange, b, to rest directly on top of what piano-forte makers term the bottom frame,77 C, of the case of the instrument, and is fastened thereto by screws, which go through the said flange and are screwed into the said frame. The iron frame A may also be further fastened to the bottom frame by means of two or more round posts, D D, extendingl upward from the bottom frame and confined to theiron or string frame by screws and nuts, as shown at c o.

The iron frame is to have no direct connection with either the sounding-board II or that part of the case D which extends above the bottom frame, C. The sounding-board is carried across and secured to this part of the case, and is provided with an opening, E, through which the hammers can play, in order to reach the strings when strained across their frame A. Furthermore, the bracket B passes down through the said opening and near to one edge of it.

The wood en bridges for the stri ngs are shown at d and e as fixed on the souiidingboard. ABy being supported on the bottom frame without contact with the sounding-board or that part of the case immediately surrounding it, the iron frame will be so insulated from the wooden case and the sounding-board as'to leave the case free to vibrate, like the soundingshell of a violin, and thus produce a material improvement in the tone and power of the instrument.

The wrist-pin plate a of the iion frame supports the series of strainingpinsff, Svc., and is directly connected with the top plate, G, the principal part of which is fiat and disposed in a plane above that ot' the plate a, which is joined with the said top plate by means of a vertical or curved rib, g, through which the strings 7i h, &c., are carried in their passage from the hitch -pins to the straining-pins. There is a bridge, t, cast on and projecting downward from the under side of the top plate, G, which is so arranged as to project in opposite directions from the bridge. The braces t2 i2 i2 ft2 extend from the upper surface and inner edge of the top plate, G, and project above the said upper surface of the sait plate, as shown in the drawings. The peculiar arrangement ofthe plate, the bridge, the braces, and the wrist-pin plate is very favorable for giving great strength to the frame and enabling it to resist the strain of the strings. In fact, it so completely prevents the frame from be; ing sprung or warped under the strain of the strings on the bridge and other parts of the frame as to render it unnecessary to employ the usual intermediate brace-fastenings, such as generally go from the braces down through the soundingeboard. The arrangement of the parts as described enables the front bar of the case to be made very thin and to vibrate with the case in a manner so as to improve the tone when the instrument may be in operation.

porter with respect to the iron frame and the sounding-board in manner so as to pass down through the hammer-openings of the sound` ing-board, as described.

5. Extending the sounding-board across the ent-ire interior of the case-viz., from side to side and end to end thereof-and making such board with a passage for the hammers and the frame-socket, as described.

SPENCER T. PARMELEE.

Witnesses:

ANDREW Y. PARMELEE, HENRY S. PARMELEE. 

